Doctor pleads guilty to not paying employment, corporate taxes

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A doctor, formerly of Great Falls, Virginia, pleaded guilty Feb. 12, 2021, to willful failure to pay employment taxes, announced Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and Acting United States Attorney Raj Parekh for the Eastern District of Virginia.

In total, Arshad Pervez Cheema, did not pay more than $2 million in employment and corporate taxes, a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s office said.

United States District Judge Anthony J. Trenga scheduled sentencing for June 23, 2021.

At sentencing, Cheema faces a maximum sentence of five years’ imprisonment.  Cheema also faces a period of supervised release, restitution, and a fine.

According to court documents referred to in the press release, from 2011 through 2018, owned and operated Walk-In Medical Center, PC, a medical practice located in Falls Church and Herndon, Virginia.

Cheema was responsible for collecting and paying to the IRS payroll taxes, which consisted of Social Security, Medicare, and income taxes that had been withheld from his employees’ wages, as well as an employer portion.

Over a four-year period from 2012 to 2016, according to the press release, Cheema did not pay over $500,000 in payroll taxes.

Instead, he used some of the withheld funds for other business ventures, including to open and run a restaurant in Washington, D.C., according to prosecutors.

In addition, Cheema did not pay corporate taxes for Walk-In Medical Center, PC, nor did he pay employment taxes for another doctor’s office, Falls Church Family Care PC, which he operated, the press release said.